Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-16
A Score of Rich Men and Their Fight
for Fortunes Senator Sawyer's
Profitable Investment.
Inventors who Haya Meda and Lost
MoBPy-Thn Hard Tins of siii'Ou-
aires-Rich Mems SpPculaiions.
The GsrseTs Of S~ma L eh Publishers
Gossip About Glrard and Wans-
msk~r, etc.
copyrighted 1887. By the Author


is the estimate Of General Francis a
Walker, Unite d S'ates Census Commis,
sioner. Il is founded upon ststistics,eI d
il is rather 81 under than 81 over est
mate.
Take 8 glSnce ct the beginnings Of our
milloBaires See how fortunes hrve
sUrouted out Of the stonies st ground. Note
how the fertilizer If brains snd energy
have grown old on the most arid sOis,
and the poorest boy NAV feel rich IN the
possibilities OF bis surroundings. Jay
Gould's father WAS q dsirv farmer in the
state of New Y TX, and uld's bands
which can now sign checks for millions
then suuee I'd the te8ts of twenty cows,
and churned the butter which brought
the living for the family jay G uld's
feet went barefootrd then and he remem-
bers how the fhistles msde them sore
He deemed himself hapoV when ct four
teen yes-s OF age his fsther gave him his
slime and told him he could start out to
make his f)rtune He leaned book
keeping with a blacksmith, and worked
as surveyor at $50 q month.
Pailetus Sawyer, the millionaire Uaited
States Senator from Wisconsin, bought
his time Of his father, and at seventeen
years Of age began his career. AT TWEEN
ty-six be had saved S2l99 and with this
started on his way to Wisconsin and TO
fortune. Before he left New York state
he stopped st sn elder brothers. house
and this brother gsve him silver dollar
to make his sum $1,000 Not long since
this brother became involved in debt to
the extent Of $1,000 He had good farm,
but its pre- frs with the expenses of his
family was only Sufficient TO pay the in
terest, and be was una Ne to reduce the
principal. PnIletus quietly paid the debt
and made his brother present Of the
notes saying:
"My brother, DO this merely as q pay
ment Of debt. When l went to WiscOp-
sir you gave me 81 1 then decided to
consider this merely an investment Of
your in my capital stock. According to
ny l1test invoice God hsve made just
$1,000 for every dollar l took with me
and this is your shsre Of the profits"
tbs estimate makes -Eator S1Wyer's
fortune nearly So 100000. and the mos
OF 1t has been mnGa In lumoer. He has
now ranch in T xas which requires s
fence of seventy i've miles TO surround
It, aid with all Ms wealth be is DO more
snobbish now then when be worked by
the day and saw his money by the dime
George PEABODY, the philsnthropist,
once sawed wood for his board, ard
when he WAS eleven years of age was
working in 8 country grocery store IN
Massachusetts, John jacob Astor, the
father of the tens of millions worth Of
real estate which the Aston family now
hold IN New York city, once peddled
bread and cakes over the streets now
lined with his ChiIdreD's property, and he
INSIDE during his lifriime several times IS
much IS Peabody gave away. The Aston
{ family is founded upon meat, and John
jacobs father was u butcher. When the
Young man started out for America he
walked $50 miles to get to the sea board
He made lis iOr'une out of furs, snd be
accompanied the Il st cargo that ne took
from Americs to London by taking pass
age in the steersge.
Still at thirty seven years of sge he was
worth $500 600 and his estate footed up
more than 800 0CO 600.
COrcoran, VINO L. now the richest man
in Washington. and who has given away
$4,000, GOO or 81 600, 900 in charities was,
like Peabody, a clerk, anl his father was
st one tlm4 shoemaker, though he after
wards became mayor of Georgetown.
Corcorsn and PEABODY were once
in partnership, and CorcoraD
seems to hsve taken Peabody as
his model in giving. He st one time
said with sigh: 'PeabOdy gives so much
thst fear I never shall get up to him."
snd be hiss not as yet thought his gifts
have been great. W. ". Corcoran failed
once as q drV goods merchant. The
foundation of his fortune was laid in
banking, and he inside big stake in
placing the government loan at the time
~ ba N vi hIa fa -
kept memorandum of his creditors, and
when he was able he paid them with in
teTest from the day upon which the debts
were contracted.
The founder Of the Adsms Express
Company, ALVIN Adsms. started his career
as an Cfiice boy IN 8 Boston hotel. H
saved bis money and bought grocery
store. He failed here and lost all he had,
then took to the express business, ard
made 8 fortune. John w. Thompson,
who mex to Core bran is Washirgton's
richest citiz.n, was OF &c the head of a
plumbing establishment, and like Adams
began life poor. He is now one Of the
most respected citizens OF the capital snd
part of mis- fortune has been
made in real estate. Leland
Stsnford's f,rtuue was brought
10 him By misfortune. He was
Young LAWYER in q Wisconsin town when
Ire burned him out and destroyed his
library and his pspers. When he saw the
danes eating up his books, be decided to
lesve for California. He kept his reso-
luton, and he now employs several times
as many men SIS there are persons in the
town from which he was CrIveD out. jaw
Cook made one fortune before he failed
at the time of the great panic. He has
cow msde ano her, and though he does
not create the stir he once did, he is 8
millionaire. Hundreds Of such instances |
can be given. The man who fails can
oft get up sgsin, and many rich man |
makes his fortune after failure.
Rich men among our inventors have |
had peculiarly hard times n their early |
life, and many great discoveries have
brought little TO the men who discovered |
them, This was so of Whitney and his |
cotton Gin. The man who found that /
petroleum was good for other uses than |
medicine died poor, and Suter, who dis
covered gold in Cslifornis spent his last
days in poverty. Howe, the inventor OF
the sewing machine, was masking SO
week when he was married at twenty-one
and 1t was through his wife's taking IN
sewing that he csBe TO experiment
upon a mschipe to tighten her labor,
After he lad completed bis machine he
could not get anyone to have faith in it,
snd it was ten years before he made any
a. l.. a.